Tim Stockwell
Serendipity Sunday
Admittedly, it will no longer be Sunday by the time most people see this photo (but, when you have a 5-year-old who doesn't go to bed until almost 9:00 PM, when is there time to post earlier?) -- and I actually took this photo on a Friday -- but, for now, it's still Sunday, and this catch was serendipitous.
In this age of smartphones, there's not many trains in the fairly-populated New York Capital Region that catch me by surprise (I have to go to more sparsely-populated areas like St. Lawrence County for that). But, this one totally caught me by surprise. I was out with my aforementioned 5-year old, William, not quite sure what the day would hold. I figured our day might bring us to a playground in Amsterdam (that, of course, is right next to CSX's Mohawk Subdivision), but I figured I'd drive through Fisherman's Lane in Schaghticoke (on the old B&M West End) first before continuing west. Almost as soon as we pulled in, the automatic to the east turned green. I figured a 16R was coming, but I was very pleasantly surprised when I heard "Loaded Grain Train with the BNSF 7088" call MOW nearby. I figured, "Okay, maybe a BNSF leader with 'blobs' behind it," but I was even more surprised when the train rounded the bend with an all-BNSF lashup!
This would pretty much be the only place William and I saw the sun all day, but the orange engines piqued William's interest enough that he expressed interest in chasing. So, chase we did, which later gave us an excuse to visit the East Portal of Hoosac Tunnel -- a place I usually try to bring William if we're chasing an eastbound.
B&E Loaded Grain Train
Schaghticoke, NY
December 1, 2023
Serendipity Sunday
Admittedly, it will no longer be Sunday by the time most people see this photo (but, when you have a 5-year-old who doesn't go to bed until almost 9:00 PM, when is there time to post earlier?) -- and I actually took this photo on a Friday -- but, for now, it's still Sunday, and this catch was serendipitous.
In this age of smartphones, there's not many trains in the fairly-populated New York Capital Region that catch me by surprise (I have to go to more sparsely-populated areas like St. Lawrence County for that). But, this one totally caught me by surprise. I was out with my aforementioned 5-year old, William, not quite sure what the day would hold. I figured our day might bring us to a playground in Amsterdam (that, of course, is right next to CSX's Mohawk Subdivision), but I figured I'd drive through Fisherman's Lane in Schaghticoke (on the old B&M West End) first before continuing west. Almost as soon as we pulled in, the automatic to the east turned green. I figured a 16R was coming, but I was very pleasantly surprised when I heard "Loaded Grain Train with the BNSF 7088" call MOW nearby. I figured, "Okay, maybe a BNSF leader with 'blobs' behind it," but I was even more surprised when the train rounded the bend with an all-BNSF lashup!
This would pretty much be the only place William and I saw the sun all day, but the orange engines piqued William's interest enough that he expressed interest in chasing. So, chase we did, which later gave us an excuse to visit the East Portal of Hoosac Tunnel -- a place I usually try to bring William if we're chasing an eastbound.
B&E Loaded Grain Train
Schaghticoke, NY
December 1, 2023